Colorado’s state congress is taking another stab at banning red light cameras at intersections, according to the Denver Post today. The measure is the second one of its type in as many years, with last year’s attempt failing to gain traction. Red light cameras have been proven time and time again to be not only ineffective at making intersections safer, but have actually been demonstrated to increase the number of accidents in many places where they are used. However, they are huge revenue raisers for many states and municipalities. Opposition to the measure comes from misguided types that are unaware...

Analysis finds no safety improvement from red light cameras in Garden Grove and Los Alamitos, California. Red light cameras are disappearing from California. Once the state had more than a hundred cities using automated ticketing machines, but by now a greater number of jurisdictions have canceled their programs than have functional cameras. On Monday, the Los Alamitos city council decided to keep its cameras despite a new report showing the devices have not improved safety. Jay Beeber, Executive Director of Safer Streets LA, provided his analysis of the safety impact of photo enforcement use to the city councils in Los...

Scott Renfroe's proposal has bipartisan support. Red light cameras and photo radar vans are hot button issues in Colorado. Police say they make intersections and roadways safer, but many motorists insist that the cameras and radar vans are used mainly to generate revenue. Today, Republican Senator Scott Refroe, of Greeley, introduced a bill to ban red light cameras and photo radar vans in Colorado. It’s his second attempt. The first one in 2012 went nowhere. This time, he has the backing of several prominent Democratic lawmakers ... Refroe’s bill will be heard next week in the Senate State, Veterans and...

"Jimmy Justice" shoves his camera in the face of a New York City parking enforcement officer who left her car in front of a fire hydrant. He starts filming and he taunts her. "You're supposed to be enforcing the law, and here you’re breaking the law," he says with all the outrage he can muster after his camera caught her shopping at a drug store while parked by the hydrant. "What do you have to say for yourself?" She rolls up the window and drives away, but not before offering the traditional New York single-fingered farewell wave. Jimmy Justice --...

On Thursday, the Lubbock, Texas city council voted to delay installation of red light cameras after a local television station exposed the city's short timing of yellow lights at eight of the twelve intersections where the devices were to be installed. "Many folks believe this is a money grab and then we found out through KCBD Television there's a discrepancy in timing," Councilman Gary Boren said, as quoted by KCBD. Earlier this month, the station cited the rule-of-thumb that Lubbock City Engineer Jere Hart asserted as the basis for timing lights at city intersections. At most of the proposed camera...

CLEVELAND -- Red-light cameras installed at Cleveland intersections have become controversial. 5 On Your Side chief investigator Duane Pohlman said flashes are oftentimes the only clue the cameras caught cars speeding or running red lights. Confirmation arrives later as a ticket in the mail, with a $100 fine. The cameras are triggering key questions before Ohio's highest court. "We are starting to lose our freedom," one motorist said. At the very least, motorists said these devices are just plain unfair. "I think we should get rid of them," another motorist said. For the past six months, 5 On Your Side...

Surveillance cameras like those authorized by the D.C. Council for police investigations and now being put in place have shown limited success in decreasing violent crime in other cities. Baltimore, for example, set up about 80 cameras in May 2005 in high-crime neighborhoods. Volunteers and retired law-enforcement personnel monitor the images in real time, but the cameras have not helped put criminals behind bars. "Generally, the State's Attorney's Office has not found them to be a useful tool to prosecutors," office spokeswoman Margaret Burns said. "They're good for circumstantial evidence, but it definitely isn't evidence we find useful to convict...

Some nights as Chuck Kesterson watches TV, it seems like there's a neon sign flashing "Eat at Joe's" outside his second-story apartment window. But he doesn't get irritated, he smiles only because he knows the flashing is just the newest member of the Gardena Police Department doing its job. Just a few feet from his backyard fence sits a 15-foot-high camera that takes a picture and a video every time a driver blows through a red light at Rosecrans and Budlong avenues. "You used to hear cars gun their engines and trucks honk their horns to let people know they...

White is right: Cameras at traffic lights can save lives Clay Robison writes that red light cameras can help protect us from some of the most dangerous people we will ever encounter Whom do you fear the most? A two-time ex-convict on the prowl for easy money to feed a drug habit? Or a suburban soccer mom running late for a movie? How about a deliveryman with too many stops on his morning route, or a salesman with too many appointments on his daily calendar? The addicted ex-con probably would cause most people the most anxiety because he clearly is...

1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer. 2. Sorry officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in. 3. Aren't you the guy from the Village People band? 4. Hey, you must have been doing 125 to keep up with me. Good job. 5. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical shape to be a police officer. 6. I was going to be a cop, but I decided to finish high school instead. 7. Bad cop, no donut. 8. You're not going to check the trunk are you? 9. Gee, that gut...

Crooks caught on camera Brits spend a bundle on video surveillance, but is it paying off? Wednesday, July 17, 2002 Great Britain is experiencing a rise in crime, and the 40,000 public surveillance cameras that have been installed in cities and towns over the past decade don't seem to be making much of a dent. Big Brother is watching, but do the crooks even care? The answer to that question is important for Britain, which has invested much hope and money in public closed-circuit television, or CCTV, as a tool to fight crime. More than $600 million has been spent...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- Too many people in Fayetteville tried to race through intersections before the traffic light turned red, so the city installed cameras to nab red light runners. The traffic cameras are coming soon to Raleigh, Cary and Chapel Hill (also in Rocky Mount - CD). But, before some cameras are up, there is a way around them.</p>

<p>The use of photo-radar and red-light cameras has been pushed on the public as a means of making the roads less dangerous. But what if we're still not any safer as a result of increasingly omnipresent police surveillance — just a lot less free?</p>

Putting closed-circuit TV cameras in public places has only a small effect on crime, according to a British report released Friday, but the U.K. government insists the police cameras dissuade criminals and make people feel safe. The study came out on the same day that police turned on a $4.5-million system blanketing the downtown area of Manchester, England's third largest city, with 400 video cameras. The report by the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NARCO) analyzed government statistics and independent reports, finding that in 14 British cities using closed circuit television, six recorded falling crime. In...

----------------------------------------------------The City of Beaverton needs your help! The Mayor's Office is attempting to gather data for an upcoming hearing before the House Transportation Committee regarding Photo Red Light in Beaverton. The Mayor would like the opportunity to be able to share your views with the state legislators. If you could respond to the following survey by Friday, June 28th, it would be very helpful. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please type an "X" by the answer that best represents your views. 1. Are you aware of the City's Red Light Enforcement Program? ____ Yes ____ No 2. Compared...

<p>The ACLU and NAACP yesterday joined critics of Metropolitan Police Department plans for video surveillance of public spaces.</p>
<p>Nkechi Taifa, a member of the NAACP's Police Task Force and a Howard University law professor, said the cameras could lead to racial profiling and spying by police.</p>

<p>Dear Department of Motor Vehicles Adjudication Services: It was so nice to hear from you after all this time. We had about given up. After all, it was Feb. 12 when we wrote in response to the "Notice of Infraction" we received from your friends at Automated Traffic Enforcement about going 36 miles an hour in a 25 mile-an-hour zone.</p>

"AutoVu introduces AutoFund, the world's first Mobile License Plate Recognition system, designed to read license plates from a moving vehicle. It can read virtually any plate - up to 1,000 per hour - and store all the information...GPS for reliable vehicle location...Many law enforcement applications are possible with this system."

<p>A surprising vote by the House last night to repeal traffic camera enforcement of speeding on state roads and highways was the final blow to the much-maligned program. After learning of the vote, Gov. Ben Cayetano today terminated the program, effective immediately.</p>

AS Gabe Leonard drove home through Beverly Hills after midnight one evening, lights flashed as he went through an intersection. He knew instantly he'd been photographed by a traffic camera. Mr. Leonard tried to recall where his wheels were when the yellow light turned red. He thought he'd beaten the light. But 12 days later he received a summons – including photos of his car, incriminatingly in mid-intersection. The freelance artist fought the $271 fine in court – and, surprisingly, won. "I decided to fight on principle," says Leonard. "[A red-light camera] presents itself as some sort of infallible process."...

NMA LAUNCHES $10,000 TICKET CAMERA CHALLENGE (An open letter to all communities in Virginia and Maryland and Washington DC that employ red light ticket cameras) The National Motorists Association is wagering $10,000 to prove that our engineering approach can cut red light violations better than any ticket camera installation. We have spent more than a year exposing the unethical exploitation associated with the use of red light ticket cameras. For example, we know that counterproductive government policies and government actions have largely created the increase in red light violations. This is not speculation, vague suspicion, or an educated guess. This ...

HAGERSTOWN, MD FEBRUARY 27 - The debate on red light cameras heated up in Annapolis as a local senator took strides to knock them down. Senator Alex Mooney introduced legislation to put the breaks on installing red light cameras in Maryland. The intersection at Franklin Street and Potomac Avenue is one area where drivers frequently run red lights. They won't be caught on camera if Senator Alex Mooney's legislation passes. Senator Mooney said the cameras are intrusive big government. He said they remind him of Cuba, his mother's native country, where there's constant surveillance from government. Senator Mooney admits ...

<p>DENVER — The city temporarily suspended its photo radar program Wednesday and dismissed all pending tickets issued under the system.</p>
<p>"We have decided that the appropriate thing to do is to void these tickets," city attorney Jim Thomas said. "We want to review the program to make sure that we have an appropriate program in operation."</p>

<p>WASHINGTON -- A camera mounted on the roof of police headquarters here peers down at pedestrians approaching the steps of the Capitol half a mile away. Then it zooms in on a couple who are climbing the stairs, unaware they are being watched.</p>

---...--- If I find a credit card statement showing that Al Gore bought gas in Atlanta GA at 11:30 and again 100 miles further north in TN at 12:30 ..... Do I have to SEE his car driving at 100 MPH (complete with a photograph of him driving) to charge him with speeding? ---...--- Then when his lawyer claims that "He wasn't speeding....because it was 12:30 the next day.... and I remmeber fishing with him under the bridge that night in the Chatahoochie River..... Sorry old chum you're lying." Until I tell that lawyer that it was 11:30 am and ...

EDITORIAL &#149; August 9, 2001 For-profit photo radar It&#39;s bad enough that Big Brother is watching us Now, however, he&#39;s getting a helping hand from a private, and very-for-profit company – Lockheed Martin IMS. Under a cooperative venture launched this week with the government of the District of Columbia, photo radar units supplied by those public-spirited folks at Lockheed Martin IMS have been snapping pictures of the license plates of &#34;speeders&#34; and sending them automated pieces of &#34;payin&#39; paper&#34; – up to $200 – out of which Lockheed Martin IMS gets a cut of $29 smackers. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It&#39;s a nice ...

Radar cameras not a windfall for all cities The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Radar cameras not a windfall for all cities Daniel F. Drummond THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/10/2001 Cities across the country have teamed up with Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin IMS and used its photo radar camera services to help slow down speeders -- but few municipalities have embraced electronic law enforcement like the District. Mesa, Ariz., and Portland, Ore. have used the photo radar technology for more than five years, but neither city has seen the sort of financial windfall the District expects. The District&#39;s contract with Lockheed, ...

<p>The District has issued automated speeding citations to more than 160,000 drivers and collected more than $5.3 million in fines since it began its photo-radar camera program in August.</p>
<p>According to figures provided by the Metropolitan Police Department, the city has collected through Dec. 27 $5,326,922 from 74,228 of the 161,322 drivers who have been cited since the automated traffic-enforcement program began Aug. 10.</p>

Gary joins national trend with night-vision photography in a bid to catch environmental crooks GARY - At night, the industrial wetlands at the Cline Avenue service road and 9th Avenue on the west side of town feel pretty remote. The occasional 18-wheeler rumbles through; dogs howl in the distance; and bats and frogs fill in a high-pitched melody. One would think this would be an easy place to have some privacy. One would think it would be a good place to get away with a friend and quietly break a law or two. One would be wrong. One could ...

Denver suspends photo radar Judge puts program in doubt on grounds that officers don't prepare citations By Kevin Flynn, News Staff Writer Denver has suspended its multimillion-dollar photo radar speeding enforcement program until it gets a clearer picture of how to run it within the law. Because of a Denver County court judge's ruling that photo radar tickets aren't legal because they aren't prepared by police, but by a private civilian contractor, the city will delay operations until it can restructure the program. "We are stopping the photo radar ticketing operation effective immediately until we have a chance to review ...

CHARLOTTE -- Camera crews atop freeway bridges will photograph the license tags of some 400,000 vehicles next week as part of bi-state study of travel patterns in the Carolinas. Using 43 video cameras in seven counties, researchers will photograph and track every car that passes on stretches of U.S. 74, and Interstates 77 and 85 during a 12-hour period on Tuesday. They hope the resulting data will help them analyze freeway travel and predict future air-pollution levels and highway needs. But a Duke University constitutional scholar says the pictures pose a privacy risk as long as they exist. The ...

GREAT SPEED CAMERA RIP-OFF Hanger Lane hang-up ... cash-grabbing camera targets London-bound drivers By BRIONY WARDEN and CHARLES YATES TODAY The Sun exposes the speed camera scandal that puts fines before lives. Police are ignoring SAFETY guidelines so they can trap more drivers and rake in more cash. Cameras are meant to be there to deter speeding motorists - and should be highly visible so that drivers see them and slow down. http://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13845166

London-- POLICE WILL ISSUE UP TO TEN MILLION TICKETS A YEAR IN A MASSIVE CLAMPDOWN ON SPEEDING MOTORISTS. WITH THE NUMBER OF SPEED CAMERAS EXPECTED TO TREBLE, THERE WILL be no escape from the prying electronic eyes. For the police, it will mean a gold-mine in fines thanks to the decision to allow forces to keep money raised from fixed penalties. Until now, many of the 4,300 cameras across the country have been ineffective because police cannot afford to stock or process the film. But the potential to raise revenue has given them a powerful incentive to extend and improve ...

Camera fines may top $160 million The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Camera fines may top $160 million Daniel F. Drummond THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 7/26/01 The District expects to collect more than $160 million in traffic fines by 2004 from automated law-enforcement cameras designed to nab red-light runners and speeders, according to contracts obtained by The Washington Times. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The city&#39;s contract with Lockheed Martin IMS, which designs and operates the systems, indicates the District is counting on sending out an estimated 80,000 new speeding tickets a month by the time the program is fully operational on Aug. 1. There were ...

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Police departments in Maryland and Virginia routinely divulge statistical information about their automated law-enforcement efforts, but D.C. police refuse to say how many speeders its new photo-radar cameras have caught. Top Stories •&nbsp;Chinese rebuff senators' queries•&nbsp;GOP sees woes with Mexican amnesty•&nbsp;Lockheed selling its radar revenue to ACS•&nbsp;Dollar plummets against euro, yen after Fed report•&nbsp;Marines remains are coming home•&nbsp;Panel exceeded authority with boycott&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, the District is the only jurisdiction in the region whose police do not perform quality-control checks before red-light-camera citations are issued.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The city's photo-radar program officially began Aug. 6, when five specially equipped Ford Crown Victorias started patrolling ...

Originally posted to the first thread. Aliska came up with the "Smile! You're on Komrade Kamera!" bit, which was an INCREDIBLE stroke of genius (I'da never thought of it ;-) The smaller pic is, ironically, a World War II-era U.S. propoganda poster... intended to warn Americans about Axis spy efforts. Anyhoo, here's the poster...

A California judge sharply criticized the automated camera system used by San Diego to punish red-light runners and suggested the cameras are so unreliable that the photographs cannot be used as evidence. Top Stories •&nbsp;Riots at G-8 meeting spark special forces•&nbsp;Religious groups get little funding•&nbsp;Consumer prices fall with gas costs•&nbsp;Rights panelists decry 'ugly games'•&nbsp;Mexican truckers travel U.S. highways•&nbsp;Baseball bats a hit in riots&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The San Diego system is similar to that used by the District. Like Washington's, it is operated by Lockheed Martin IMS, which operates the system in most jurisdictions that use the devices.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald L. ...

<p>It's not about safety; it's about money. So say congressional critics of automated traffic enforcement, such as Rep. Dick Armey, Texas Republican, who want to penalize the District by cutting $1 of federal funding for every $1 the city collects in fines from electronic cameras.</p>

RED LIGHT CAMERA TICKETS DISMISSED (09-04-2001) - A judge Tuesday dismissed 250 tickets issued through San Diego's red light camera program, ruling that a private contractor's involvement in the system made evidence inadmissable [sic] at trial. Superior Court Judge Ronald Styn ruled that the city's decision to contract with Lockheed Martin to run the program, combined with a contingency fee, made evidence gathered from the red light cameras "unreliable" and "untrustworthy." Styn, in upholding his Aug. 15 tentative decision, ruled that the city failed to operate the red light system as outlined by the Legislature. He also said the agreement ...

If the Late Phillip K. Dick could only have lived to write about this:This is getting ridiculous! Here are newer entries: Beach to Scan Oceanfront Faces ** Freeper call to action *** Let's Keep Privacy, Freedom Alive!!! (cameras/faceprinting) Motorists race to court to challenge red-light cameras Photos called privacy threat Tampa Florida: First U.S. City To Install High-Tech Cameras Armey Continues His Battle Against Cameras County keeping eye on illegal dumpers ("1984" cited by officials as INSPIRATION for hidden cameras!) Cameras? If your not guilty, what are you worried about? Beach may scan Oceanfront faces (American Civil Liberties Union, ...

<p>The District collected more than $1.6 million in fines during the month of November from photo-radar citations, more than they collected in the program's first three months combined, preliminary figures show.</p>
<p>D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey has repeatedly said the use of photo-radar and red-light cameras is about safety, not money. He reiterated that point yesterday on his weekly radio show, responding to criticism from House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who says the program invades people's right to privacy for what appears to be a revenue booster.</p>

<p>It's not the journey or the destination; it's the getting there unseen that counts.</p>
<p>Or so goes the thinking behind a new mapping utility created by civil libertarians to guide New Yorkers through Manhattan along routes with the fewest surveillance cameras.</p>

I have read several posts in regard to the cameras being set up at traffic signals (including Darth Sidious' excellent after-action report on his FReep of a camera in NC) in an effort to stop people from crossing against the light (reality check: raise revenue.) As I live in a relatively small town, we are not cursed with these contraptions... yet. I do, however, encounter one or two during my daily commute. From what I have been able to discern, they are activated via pavement sensors that are coordinated with the color of the light. Ex: Cross the white "stop ...

Motorists are celebrating the accidental flattening of a speed camera in Surrey. One person attached a note to the pole poking fun at the fact it could no longer catch speeding drivers. The camera on a dual carriageway in Surbiton was damaged after being hit by a car. A note left at the scene read: "Missing you already...at 80mph", reports The Mail on Sunday. Meanwhile, police are investigating the vandalism of four speed cameras on one 15-mile stretch of the A40 through Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Previous attacks on other devices across in the country include camera and film boxes being ...

A Derbyshire wife banned by her husband from driving his car was caught out when she was pictured by a speed camera. Carlo Chiarella ordered her not to drive his £20,000 new Shogun company car in case she pranged it. But wife Amanda was snapped behind the wheel having a sneaky drive while Carlo was away on business. He protested his innocence when a speeding ticket came through the post, until he saw the photographic evidence - with Amanda behind the wheel. The Shogun has the number plate W1FEY, reports The Sun. Carlo, 37, said: "She was caught doing 55mph ...

SAN DIEGO -- A judge dismissed nearly 300 tickets Tuesday issued to drivers caught by cameras that record motorists running red lights, handing ammunition to opponents of such systems.Judge Ronald Styn of San Diego County Superior Court said the camera evidence was inadmissible because a private corporation's role in the operation of the system and its per-ticket collection of fees violated state law.The ruling has no direct legal implications for similar red-light traffic systems in roughly 50 other cities in the nation.But lawyers for the motorists said other judges likely will take the ruling under consideration."It's very limited, but ...